Site Mobile Navigation

Armed North Korea Troops Again Violate the DMZ

This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996.
To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.

Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems.
Please send reports of such problems to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

Heavily armed North Korean troops entered the sensitive buffer zone between North and South Korea tonight for the third day in a row, violating the armistice that ended the Korean War, United States and South Korean officials said.

The actions by the North Koreans have heightened tensions on the heavily fortified border, where the cold war has never thawed. But some American and South Korean officials have said the North, by thumbing its nose at the armistice agreement, appears to be making more of a diplomatic gambit than actually preparing for war.

We view these activities of the past three evenings as a series of continuing serious armistice violations, but we see nothing that would warrant particular alarm," said Jim Coles, a spokesman for the United Nations Command, which encompasses American, South Korean and other allied troops in South Korea. In Seoul, people appeared to be calm tonight.

[In Washington, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department, Lieut. Comdr. Karen Jeffries, called the latest incursion by North Korean troops "a serious violation of the armistice, though not unprecedented." She said American officials had not seen an increase in military activity to suggest that North Korea was preparing for war.]

Mr. Coles said between 150 and 180 North Korean troops entered the joint security area at the village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone at about 8:05 P.M. and appeared to be engaging in training exercises. They were carrying weapons including AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, recoilless rifles and mortars, but left at 10:45 P.M. without firing a shot.

Officials at South Korea's Ministry of Defense gave a similar account. But one of them said there was some speculation that the number of North Korean troops might have been as high as 400, based on the capacity of the six small trucks and six large trucks used to transport them.

The armistice agreement allows only 35 soldiers from either side from entering the joint security area, and they may carry only sidearms.

North Korea, which has violated the 1953 truce agreement in the past, has made little secret over the years that it wants to dismantle the pact and replace it with a peace treaty between itself and the United States, bypassing South Korea.

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

On Thursday, the day before the incursions at the demilitarized zone began, the secretive Communist nation declared that it would abandon its role in maintaining the demilitarized zone.

In response to the recent incursions, the United Nations Command has heightened its surveillance over North Korean actions. But Mr. Coles said that contrary to some reports, troops on the border had not gone to a higher level of combat readiness and that there had been no unusual troop movements on either side of the 151-mile-long border other than the Panmunjom incursions. "It's business as usual, even on the North side," he said.

Washington and Seoul are talking about stationing an American Awacs in South Korea or having the South Koreans buy one. Awacs, which stands for airborne warning-and-control system, is a plane with sophisticated equipment for monitoring a battlefield. Mr. Coles said such discussions had been going on for months.

South Koreans also say they hope that the meeting between President Clinton and President Kim Young Sam set for early next week on Cheju Island will send a sign to North Korea that the United States, which has 37,000 troops in this country, remains committed to defending South Korea.

At first the White House had said Mr. Clinton had no time to stop in South Korea on his trip to Japan and Russia. But after South Korean officials pressed for a visit, Mr. Clinton's schedule was changed.

Some analysts said North Korea must realize that Washington would not negotiate a peace treaty without involving Seoul. So the North's recent saber-rattling might be intended more to solicit economic aid to help the Communist country cope with famine and a crumbling economy, just as its threatened nuclear weapons development led to an agreement to supply it with modern atomic power plants and fuel oil.

They said it also could be an effort by Kim Jong Il, who is believed to be the de facto ruler of North Korea, to show his toughness before formally ascending to the high titles held by his late father, Kim Il Sung.

A version of this article appears in print on April 8, 1996, on Page A00008 of the National edition with the headline: Armed North Korea Troops Again Violate the DMZ. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe